tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40267762067248750412024-03-13T14:06:19.154-07:00Taxing Topics - Dwyer Tax Law Canadian Tax Law ArticlesDwyer Tax Law, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Commentary on Canadian federal and provincial tax law, including income tax..Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-60303060483270026542019-06-03T21:10:00.003-07:002019-06-03T21:12:12.938-07:00
Proposed Disability Tax
Credit Fee Limits
The federal government
proposes to limit the fee that a service provider (other than a doctor or other
medical practitioner) can charge for helping a taxpayer apply for a disability
tax credit (DTC) or in claiming disability tax credit deductions on an
individual income tax return.
Under proposed
regulations, the fee limit will be as follows.
(a)&Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-22826513787890526662019-05-13T14:08:00.001-07:002019-05-13T14:08:10.405-07:00Charitable Giving: Ebenezer Scrooge in a Taxable Canadian Context.
CHARITABLE GIVING: EBENEZER SCROOGE IN A TAXABLE CANADIAN CONTEXT
May
10, 2019
Paper presented at Tax Fundamentals for
the Estate Practitioner (Vancouver, BC).A Conference presented by the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia
This paper discusses options for charitable
giving as part of an estate plan, both during life and at death.
The paper deals Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-36953317349772795492017-12-28T08:39:00.003-08:002017-12-28T08:39:44.456-08:00
Family Members as Part-Time Workers
This continues consideration of the revised proposals on income splitting through a family corporation. The government released these revisions on December 13, 2017. If passed into law in their current form, the proposals will apply as of the start of 2018.
The revised proposals contain an exemption for an over-age-17 family member who is activelyDwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-9980542313727663162017-12-28T08:38:00.002-08:002017-12-28T08:38:40.149-08:00
Revised Income-Splitting Rules Released
On December 13, the federal government released its revised proposals on income-splitting.
If passed into law, the rules will be effective as of the start of 2018. While it will take time to fully analyze the rules, the following general points can be made at this point.
The proposals will not apply to any dividends paid during 2017. If Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-62142842142169520372017-10-19T08:24:00.002-07:002017-10-19T19:07:52.676-07:00Holding Corporation Investment IncomeOn October 18, the federal government released some tidbits of information about changes to its proposals in respect of investment income earned by corporations that invest active business earnings that have been taxed at the small business rate. In July, the government had proposed to impose special rules on such earnings.
While we will have to wait until the 2018 federal budget for Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-89511857333984094142017-10-19T08:02:00.002-07:002017-10-19T19:08:34.180-07:00Pipeline Still Possible?
On October 19, the federal government continued in the almost-daily announcement of reforms to its original July 18 tax reform proposals.
This latest reform announcement indicates that the government will not be moving forward with measures relating to the conversion of income into capital gains.
As has been the case all week, the actual announcement is vague. Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-48441666597168005782017-10-16T20:03:00.000-07:002017-10-19T19:08:50.600-07:00Government not proceeding with Restrictions on Capital Gains ExemptionOn October 16, the federal government announced its first
concrete modification to the sweeping income tax changes that it had proposed
on July 18.
The media has focussed on the phased reduction to the low
income tax rate that applies to the first $500,000 of active business
income earned by a Canadian-controlled private corporation. The federal
rate on such income will decline to 10%Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-48383014708670898402017-07-23T16:23:00.001-07:002017-07-23T16:23:33.987-07:00
The Old are Young Again
It’s not exactly the fountain of youth, but
many Canadians might soon be treated for tax purposes as if they were once
again under 18 years of age. Enabling
legislation has to be passed into law, but this might come into effect as soon
as 2018.
Currently, Canadian income tax law applies
a special tax – colloquially referred to as the “kiddie tax” -- if a Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-4900497675731878312017-07-19T19:52:00.001-07:002017-07-19T19:52:46.081-07:00
Major Tax Changes to Private Corporation Taxation
On July 18, the federal Finance Minister released his promised consultation paper on the taxation of private corporations. The paper includes draft legislation, most of which will be effective at the start of 2018 but some of which is effective as of announcement date -- July 18, 2017.
The immediate measures seem to prevent the use Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-45528612226942116952016-10-24T19:42:00.000-07:002016-10-24T19:42:17.390-07:00January 15 Fix is Still in Play.
On January 15, 2016, the federal government released legislative proposals designed to fix some of the problems created by 2015 legislation on the taxation of trusts. See earlier posts from January 18 and 19, 2016.
On October 21, 2016, the January 15 proposals were finally released as part of a budget implementation bill. This means that the fix to the 2015 legislation is that Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-52536615724162660322016-04-14T12:52:00.002-07:002016-04-14T12:52:44.427-07:00News Headlines Unfair to Red Cross
Several newspapers have reported allegations that the
International Committee of the Red Cross (the “ICRC”) was listed as the beneficiary of two Panamanian foundations
used by clients of the infamous Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
These reports are unfair to the ICRC.
The ICRC has no control over whether it is named as
beneficiary of a trust or foundation.
Any person setting upDwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-23870888870363379602016-04-07T16:29:00.002-07:002016-04-07T16:29:45.085-07:00An Apple for the Teachers
Budget 2016 introduces a new tax credit in recognition
of personal expenses incurred by teachers and early childhood educators who
often end up buying supplies for their students.
Effective for 2016, eligible employed educators will
be able to claim a 15% tax credit for up to $1,000 in eligible expenditures
made in a taxation year.
The tax credit will be refundable. If an Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-78067423552855709882016-04-04T10:12:00.001-07:002016-04-04T10:12:20.873-07:00Budget 2016 and Kids' Stuff
The 2016 federal budget consolidates the Canada Child
Tax Benefit (the CCTB) and the Universal Child Care Benefit (the UCCB) into a
single acronym with one less letter: the
CCB (which stands for Canada Child Benefit).
The CCB will be non-taxable and will provide a maximum
benefit of up to $6,400 per year ($533.33 per month) per child under the age of
6 and $5,400 per year ($450 per Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-42615535338398862462016-03-29T10:23:00.002-07:002016-03-29T10:23:39.034-07:00Preventing Too Much of a Good Thing
As indicated in the last blog (click here to read it), small
business corporations enjoy a low rate of tax on the first $500,000 of profit
from an active business carried on in Canada.
In British Columbia, this low rate is 13%. This consists of a 10.5% federal rate and a
2.5% provincial rate.
The low rate of tax leaves a small business corporation with
more after-tax cash. Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-78122238245765059542016-03-24T09:55:00.000-07:002016-03-24T09:55:10.994-07:00Steady As She Goes For Small Businesses
The 2016 federal budget did not make the small business rate
unavailable for professional businesses, despite the rumours that suggested it
would. However, the budget did include
changes that will affect small business corporations.
Small business corporations are Canadian-controlled private
corporations that earn income from an active business carried on in Canada and
that have taxableDwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-3922382710027183422016-03-22T16:56:00.003-07:002016-03-22T16:56:55.732-07:00What Was Not In The Budget
Prior to the 2016 federal budget, rumors swirled surrounding
the following possible changes.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->·
<!--[endif]-->An increase in the capital gains tax rate.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->·
<!--[endif]-->Restrictions on the availability of the small
business tax rate for professional corporations Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-78703181400043727402016-02-26T14:40:00.004-08:002016-02-26T14:40:46.994-08:00Canadian Tax Primer 16: Capital Gains Exemption on Farming and Fishing Property
As noted in Tax Primer 14 (please click here to read it), a Canadian-resident individual
can realize up to $1 million in tax-free capital gains on the sale of qualified
farming and fishing property.
City
slickers should not necessarily skip over this tax primer discussion. In some circumstances, farming property can
include property that is not currently used as a farm. For Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-4309702513604127342016-01-19T13:51:00.001-08:002016-01-19T13:51:47.945-08:00A Better Sense of Timing
Recent 2016 legislative proposals (described in greater detail in our previous article) fix a timing problem that could have arisen in respect of charitable
donations made by the trustees of alter-ego trusts, joint spousal trusts and
testamentary spousal trusts (“Life
Interest Trusts”).
As described in our previous article, the assets of those
trusts are subject to a deemed dispositionDwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-106899192705275892016-01-18T10:19:00.000-08:002016-01-18T10:19:14.316-08:00The Way We Were (Almost)
On January
15, 2016, the federal government released proposals that will fix some of the
problems created by its earlier 2015 legislation on the taxation of trusts.
The earlier
2015 legislation changed the taxation rules for alter-ego trusts, joint spousal
trusts and testamentary spousal trusts (collectively, “Life Interest Trusts”). In
these Life Interest Trusts, the trust assets are Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-66223594599349077132015-12-04T15:20:00.001-08:002015-12-04T15:20:47.615-08:00Canadian Tax Primer 15: Capital Gains Exemption and Shares of Active Business Corporations
As indicated in Tax Primer 14 (click here to read it), each
Canadian-resident individual can claim up to $813,600 in tax-free capital gains
on a sale of shares of an active business corporation.
The technical rules in the Income Tax Act actually refer to
the sale of shares of a “small business corporation”. Like too many tax terms, however, this technical
term is misleading. A Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-27107639084630773742015-10-30T11:12:00.002-07:002015-10-30T11:12:33.105-07:00Canadian Tax Primer 14: General Rules for the Capital Gains Exemption
Each individual resident in Canada can claim a lifetime
capital gains exemption. This means
tax-free capital gains on the sale of qualifying assets.
Two separate limits apply.
An individual can claim up to $813,600 (in 2015) in exempt capital gains
on the sale of shares of an active business corporation. If the sale involves specified types of
farming or fishing property, Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-22523699451851210982015-10-14T11:30:00.001-07:002015-10-14T11:30:34.095-07:00Canadian Tax Primer 13: The Family Home
For many Canadians, the family home is a major asset.
In tax parlance, the family home is called the “principal
residence”. In general, any increase in
value on a principal residence is not subject to capital gains tax. This rule applies whether the capital gain
arises as a result of an actual or a deemed disposition.
As with any tax exemption, some rules have to be kept in
Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-90882905197999468022015-09-28T15:25:00.000-07:002015-09-28T15:25:46.377-07:00Canadian Tax Primer 12: KiddieTax
No, the government has not decided to impose a tax on the
number of children that you have. In tax
jargon, “kiddie tax” refers to a special tax on certain types of income “earned”
by a child under the age of 18. In
general, that income is income that has been generated through the efforts of
the child’s parent. For example, the
parent might have an incorporated business.
Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-10168475607411086442015-09-09T17:10:00.000-07:002015-09-09T17:10:14.424-07:00Canadian Tax Primer 11: Childhood Attributions
Tax Primer 10 (click here to read it) discussed the
income tax attribution rules as they apply between spouses.
Separate attribution rules apply in respect of children
(including grandchildren and great-grandchildren) as well as nieces and
nephews, but only during the time that they are under 18 years of age. These “under-18” attribution rules apply only
in respect of investment Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026776206724875041.post-28910175193576309622015-08-25T16:47:00.001-07:002015-08-25T16:47:42.717-07:00Canada Revenue Agency Phone Scams
Scam
artists, posing over the phone as Canada Revenue Agency officials, have been very
active recently. They are very skilled at
preying on fears and can appear very convincing. They may even have your social insurance number.
Typically,
the scam artist starts off by advising that the CRA is about to start legal
action for unpaid tax – that your bank accounts are being frozen and Dwyer Tax Lawyers Victoria BChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08129201481826089857noreply@blogger.com